CINCINNATI — A homeless advocacy organization and a Black Lives Matter group are challenging the fatal Cincinnati police shooting of a black man with a history of mental illness.
The Hamilton County prosecutor called the shooting justified. The police chief said the white officer was under “vicious, violent attack” by a knife-wielding robbery suspect.
The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition and Black Lives Matter Cincinnati have issued a joint statement saying Jawari Porter’s death was avoidable. They say police escalated the Sunday confrontation.
“Human life is of such importance and value that we don’t want to assume the only option the police officer had was to pull the trigger. We also don’t want to assume the only destiny in Jawari’s future was to end up in this interaction,” said coalition spokesman Josh Spring.
After robbing a Cincinnati grocery store on Sunday morning and threatening a security guard with a knife, officials say Porter, 25, lunged at Officer Anthony Brucato who fired six shots, killing Porter.
Video released Monday shows Porter lunging at an officer in the driver’s seat of a police vehicle. Authorities say Porter was trying to stab him.
Court records show a judge last year found that Porter was mentally ill and incompetent to stand trial on assault charges. He was ordered into treatment.